Smoking Bans Increasing in Public Places Across Maryland

Smokers who want to light up at Howard County parks will have to find another location starting Wednesday, or find themselves breaking the law--the first such comprehensive ban in the state.

“We’re trying to make Howard County the healthiest place it can be,” said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, who will sign the Howard County ban into law Wednesday. “We didn’t want to continue sending a contradictory message at the parks to our children…. This is a place to be healthy and to enjoy the environment and recreation.”

According to The Baltimore Sun, the Howard county ban will include 57 county park properties. It will exclude those parks in Howard County that are owned by the Columbia Association.

County officials told The Sun that violators of the law would first be asked to stop smoking, and if they refused, they would be asked to leave the property.

Failure to comply with the law could result in a civil fine of up to $1,000.

Ulman said the ban will be enforced by Recreation and Park staffers as well as park rangers.

Meanwhile, Howard County is not the only area county taking action on the issue.

The Montgomery County Council has unanimously approved a prohibition on smoking in common areas and near playgrounds of multi-family homes, to take effect Aug. 12.

The Montgomery County ban will apply to shared hallways, lobbies and laundry rooms and playgrounds of “multi-family residential dwellings,” such as apartment and condominium buildings.

“This measure will protect nonsmokers from involuntary exposure to dangerous secondhand tobacco smoke,” Montgomery County Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said.

An amendment added to the Montgomery County bill on Tuesday prohibits smoking within 25 feet of playground areas on privately owned property such as townhouse communities and subdivisions of single-family homes.

The regulation will not apply to homeowners with playground equipment in their yards. 

The Rockville City Council passed a similar ban on smoking near playgrounds in 2009. 

In reaction to the expansive Howard County law, some residents said they saw it as a victory for fresh air. Others felt the out-of-doors was the only place left for smokers.

“My thought is if the heal risk has been proven—which it has—to have to subject children or other people to second hand smoke is unfair. That’s why I think the new law is reasonable,” said Susan Wilt, an Ellicott City mother who had just finished exercising at Centennial Park.

Gary Young had similar sentiments. Young exercises at Centennial Park every day and said he is allergic to cigarette smoke. He expressed relief at the new policy.

“Me, as a non-smoker, I like the fresh air,” Young said. “Second hand smoke is just as dangerous as smoking.”

Yet father Andy Welch of Clarksville, who was playing at Centennial Park with his son, said he wasn’t so sure that the ban was good.

“I’m not a smoker and I don’t like being around it, but as long as it’s legal to smoke they ought to let them do it somewhere,” Welch said. “[The government] can’t get too restrictive on things. What are we now—going to have police enforce the smoking ban? They have enough to do.”

For the most part Ulman said public response to the ban has been “unbelievably positive.” But he did acknowledge that there are those who see the ban as discriminating against smokers.

“In everything you balance one group’s rights against another,” Ulman said, emphasizing that he sees the law as a means of “protecting the children.”

“We understood that there would be pushback,” he added, equating the measure to the ban on smoking in airplanes.

“People said the airline industry would go down … but people adjusted. This is another step in recognizing non-smokers should be protected,” Ulman said.

Other county governments have addressed the issue of smoking out of doors in various ways or are in the process of addressing it.

In Carroll County, there is a ban on the use of any tobacco product within 50 yards of a playing field. The ban took effect in 2001.

Jeff Degitz, the administrator for the Recreation and Parks Department in Carroll County, said his county’s policy is a compromise.

“It protects the children, but we didn’t want to discourage volunteer involvement,” Degitz said. “Some of our volunteers might use tobacco …. This accommodates both of those parties.”

In Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, the county parks are managed by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Department of Park and Recreation.

Anita Pesses, the department’s chief of public affairs and marketing for the Prince George’s division, says a potential outdoor park ban is on the table.

“We’re well aware of the health implications of second-hand smoke,” Pesses said. “We have an active group looking into it.”

She added that a potential proposal could be a partial ban, but she did not have more specifics.

“We’re not there yet,” she said.

Area colleges are also addressing the issue.

In May, Howard Community College became “smoke-free” and “tobacco-free.”

UMBC is in the midst of a campus-wide conversation about the impact of smoking on the health of smokers and others. 

“We currently have a policy restricting smoking to designated areas and we are engaging student, faculty and staff leaders in discussion about where the campus should move next on the continuum toward a smoke-free environment,” UMBC Associate Vice President Lisa Akchin said in an e-mail. 

For now, Maryland smokers might still find places out of doors to smoke, but according to Ulman, "It’s becoming much more commonplace for institutions and jurisdictions to look at the issue.”